Formats

Physical - CD / SACD

Our SACDs (Super Audio Compact Disc) are all Dual-Layer Hybrid discs offering a standard 16-bit/44.1Khz PCM CD layer as well as a DSD Surround Sound & Stereo layer. This means that they can be played as a normal CD, in stereo, on most standard CD players, and also in full Hi-Resolution DSD surround sound format if played on an SACD player.
Chandos only produces Hybrid SACDs in Surround Sound and only where the original recording was recorded in high-resolution Surround Sound.

Factory ‘Short Run’ CDR

A ‘Short Run’ is a CD produced in a factory with all the original booklet and artwork but is, in fact, ‘burnt’ on CDRs, not ‘Pressed’ on standard CDs. The audio quality is exactly the same as is the booklet and case, but the CD artwork may have a slight central variance.
Chandos has had to make the decision for certain products that are popular enough to warrant a ‘re-run’ but do not sell in high enough quantities to make it worthwhile for a complete factory pressing where there is a large minimum order number; a Factory ‘Short Run’ would be the best option. Unfortunately, for these albums, we have had to either accept the small compromise or delete the albums from our catalogue. We apologise for any minor image defects that may occur but hope you understand.

Physical - LP

Needs no introduction. Titles taken from the Chandos catalogue pressed in Germany on High-Grade 180grm vinyl and tested for the perfect match to the original masters.

Physical - Memory Stick

Chandos Plug & Play Collections
Collections of complete series from the Chandos catalogue as digital files ready for your audio player or burning to CDs.
Each USB stick comes complete with audio (both lossless and mp3), PDF booklets, print-quality artwork and instructions on how to burn the music to CD.

Digital - MP3

An MP3 (the accepted abbreviation for MPEG 1 audio layer 3) is a music file that has been compressed by reducing the accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the hearing ability of most people.

This then enables it to reproduce near-CD quality music with a much smaller size file.

One minute of music is equivalent to about 2.3Mb of hard disk space at a bit rate of 320kbps, a size easily swallowed by an everyday modern computer.

The standard bit rate in the early download websites was 128Kbps, but the higher the bit rate, the better the quality of the downloaded music. The Classical Shop uses a much higher bit rate of 320Kbps so that the quality of our sound is transferred to you, the customer, as accurately as possible with only a slight increase in file size.

This file type is a cross-platform universally accepted format and should work with all computer types including PC, Mac and Linux.

WARNING
Due to limitations with the mp3 file format, it is sometimes not possible to seamlessly join 'segue' tracks (music that flows without a break from one track to another 'segway'). It is therefore recommended that if your chosen repertoire is 'segue', you should choose the lossless download type instead.

Digital - M4B

MPEG-4 for Audio Books

M4B is a file extension for an MPEG-4 part 14 audio layer audio book container file format used by iTunes. An M4B file is very similar to an M4A file but specified for audiobooks. M4B files support metadata for chapters and bookmarking on supporting players and most commonly use AAC (Advanced Audio Codec).
It can be read by any media player or audiobook player with the ability to open these types of files and is a common file type for audiobooks downloaded from iTunes or Audible.

Digital - LOSSLESS

Lossless Files - CD Quality Format

Lossless is a type of format that allows the file to be compressed without losing any data, i.e. sound. It works by ‘zipping’ the file before compression, creating a smaller file but without loss of data, hence ‘lossless’. The sound quality is exactly the same as on a CD, with no deterioration, but the file size is roughly half that of a normal CD. For instance, an album in mp3 would average 150Mb in file size; the lossless equivalent would be 250Mb. Download times vary between thirty-five minutes on a 1Mb internet connection to only five minutes on an 8Mb connection for an average CD. Needless to say, Lossless is ideally suited to classical music which requires the best possible sound quality.

We currently support two forms of Lossless Files:

FLAC
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed without any loss in quality. The sound is very natural and clear because FLAC is designed specifically for audio, and you can playback the files in your favourite player (or your car or home stereo, if supported by the device) just like you would an MP3 file. FLAC supports tagging and is supported on most operating systems, including Windows, 'Unix (Linux, BSD, Solaris, IRIX), BeOS, and MAC OS X. However, it does not play in Windows Media Player without a free downloadable codex plugin from Microsoft. Suitable FLAC players are Foobar2000, Media Monkey and VLC Media Player.

ALAC
The Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is an audio codec developed by Apple and supported on iPhone, iPad, most iPods, Mac and iTunes. ALAC is a data compression method that reduces the size of audio files with no loss of information. Stored in the MPEG 4 container and with an .m4a extension Apple lossless supports 16-bit and 24-bit audio, as well as multi-channel audio, such as 5.1 and can be decoded at relatively high speed in comparison to other lossless codecs. ALAC can be played through iTunes and the following players: QuickTime, VLC Media Player, MPlayer, Plex, XBMC, Boxee, Rockbox, Foobar2000, JRiver Media Center and BitPerfect.

For MAC users we recommend the ALAC Lossless files which are fully compatible.

Digital - STUDIO

Studio Files - The Ultimate Sound Quality Format

If you want to hear the sound as it was recorded in the original professional format and are not worried about file size, then this is for you. With the increase in download speeds and hard drive storage space becoming cheaper, we are now able to offer perfect copies of original master tapes as downloads.

The majority of stereo professional recordings in the last 15 years have been produced using very high-resolution audio formats. High sampling rates such as 192 kHz, 96 kHz and 88.2 kHz and bit-rates of 24bits or 20bits.

The increase in bit-rate from 16bit - CD quality to 20 or 24bit makes a considerable difference in the dynamic range, depth and space of a recording whilst the increased sampling rate refines the sound even further.

Certain other websites claim similar high-resolution files which are in fact upsampled from normal CD quality; The Classical Shop does not partake in this practice as there is no benefit to the sound quality on offer. Our files are true original high-resolution files direct from the studios.

Only a couple of formats support these high resolutions, and we have opted for FLAC as it is compatible with all computer systems. Our FLAC Studio files are lossless and sound identical to the original master tape; they offer true 'studio quality'.

Please be aware, FLAC Studio files are very big files and will need a lot of storage space, approximately 1.5 GB per album. Plus, they are too large to burn on a CD and of course, will not play on a CD player.

For Microsoft Windows users, VLC, Media Monkey and Foobar2000 all play Hi-Res FLAC files (please note we do not directly support any of these applications); also as of Sep 2020, Windows 10 can now play these files directly in windows media player. Mac users can convert FLAC Hi-Res files using MAX (http://sbooth.org/Max/) or play the files directly with Colibri (https://colibri-lossless.com/).

We will be continually adding more albums in FLAC 24/96, 24/88.2 and 24/44.1 in the coming months. See our complete list of Studio File albums here.

Digital - SURROUND

Studio Surround

For those that want to hear everything in surround sound, we are making a few recordings available in FLAC Studio Master Surround Sound. These files are extremely large, approximately 3.5 GB per album. But, if you want to hear the quality of the original studio masters in surround sound, then this is the format for you.

Please see Studio Files for further details on FLAC files.

Dolby Atmos - Spatial Audio

Dolby Atmos has reinvented how entertainment is created and experienced, allowing creatives everywhere to place each sound exactly where they want it to go, for a more realistic and immersive audio experience. Whether you’re gaming, watching your favourite film or series, or listening to that new track on repeat, Dolby Atmos transports you into a spatial sound experience that draws you in deeper, so you hear more and feel more. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height and side channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects.

Dolby Atmos also has headphone implementations for PCs and mobile phones. They work by using audio processing algorithms to convert the Atmos object metadata into a binaural 360° output using the usual two headphone speakers. This technique is an improvement on the previous Dolby Headphone technology, allowing infinite channels of sound to be processed into a virtual surround experience.

You can now enjoy this pinpoint-precise surround sound experience at home, whether that’s through an Atmos-enabled AV receiver and speaker package, an Atmos soundbar, or even an Atmos-capable TV.

Our Dolby Atmos files can only be heard by streaming from Apple Music or Amazon Music Unlimited

Information